Meaning & use
over-reacting
Last updated
“over-reacting” is a form of “over-react”.
Meaning
verbintransitive
Responding to something with much stronger emotion or action than the situation really deserves.
Grammar: No object; often followed by to: over-reacting to criticism.
Patterns
- over-reacting to something
- stop over-reacting
- be over-reacting
She's over-reacting to a tiny mistake in the report.
When he lost his keys, he was over-reacting and shouting at everyone.
I think you're over-reacting; it's not as serious as it seems.
Word forms
| third person singular | over-reacts |
|---|---|
| past tense | over-reacted |
| past participle | over-reacted |
| present participle | over-reacting |
Common combinations
- over-reacting to criticism
- He tends to start over-reacting to criticism instead of listening.
- stop over-reacting
- Please stop over-reacting; we can fix this calmly.
- be over-reacting
- You may be over-reacting to a small delay.
- without over-reacting
- Try to respond without over-reacting.
Synonyms and how they differ
- exaggerating
- Focuses on making something seem bigger or worse than it is, often in what you say; over-reacting is more about your emotional response.
- panicking
- Means reacting with fear or anxiety; over-reacting can include anger or annoyance as well.
Opposites
Word family
- over-react verb
- The base form: to respond too strongly.
- over-reaction noun
- An excessively strong response.
Commonly confused: over-reacting or overacting?
over-reacting vs overacting
Overacting means acting in a way that is too dramatic in a play or film; over-reacting means responding too strongly to a real situation.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
The verb over-react is intransitive and takes the preposition to before the thing that causes the reaction. The other prepositions do not fit this pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “over-reacting”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.